This team looks real

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Half court offense looks..............um............good?
 

First time this season I've been able to watch a game from start to finish and have to say I was very impressed. Pretty much dominated Florida State from the opening tip. Best game I've seen the guys play on both ends in some time. Offense was controlled, but efficient while the defense gave the Seminoles fits all night long. Right now, that top-25 ranking looks pretty darn legit.

The key, of course, is to keep it going. But that's three nice wins in a row away from home. Pretty good start to say the least!
 

Unregistered User said:
So what is the consensus here (like there's a shot at that, (and I'm NOT starting a poll)):

Did the team play as expected, or did they play above expectations?

I would say they played as expected. It didn't seem like anyone played on out-of-their-head game. Joe may have stepped up above expectations, but I don't know by how much. He pretty much just played his game and took what was there.
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First time they met expectations against good competition (Duke/Memphis/Stanford/FSU), in my opinion, though I'd say a couple of those opening games were impressive (e.g., American U). When a guy puts up 30+ (41, ultimately), the game shouldn't be tied toward the end of the game. But that was the case against Memphis. Duke and Stanford were lacking, though at least one of the two was a win.

On the minus side, Mbakwe had a poor game tonight. It looked like he didn't have much energy. Rodney didn't do as much as he should have, and missing a few of those rebounds hurt (he often jumps too early on the defensive glass instead of waiting for the ball to come to him). On the positive side, Coleman played strong throughout. A few of those finishes were beautiful. And Eliason was once again hustling all over the court. His presence made up for the lack of Mbakwe's game. I call it even: +2 up and -2 down, while Gophers dominated a pretty good team on the road.

As for others mentioned in this thread: Mav played ok, not sure where all of his criticism comes from. He got picked twice - excusable one from behind when we was headed for what he thought was an open layup - but other than that was solid yet again. Welch didn't turn the ball over and actually moved his feet on D. Still, he makes me completely nervous every time he's on the court. For that matter, Ingram makes me nervous too. Oto is struggling. But he won't come out of it by not seeing the floor. I think he'll be a solid contributor in the next 2 years, as it seems he has a decent fundamental game, but don't see him getting many minutes this year with the Gophers' depth.

Finally, it appears that Cobb made a good move transferring...he gets to start now, I'm not sure he would have at UMinn. I'm not sure I'll ever forgive Devoe, though.
 

Unregistered User said:
So what is the consensus here (like there's a shot at that, (and I'm NOT starting a poll)):

Did the team play as expected, or did they play above expectations?

I would say they played as expected. It didn't seem like anyone played on out-of-their-head game. Joe may have stepped up above expectations, but I don't know by how much. He pretty much just played his game and took what was there.
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I thought Coleman elevated his game for sure tonight. Showed a sweet little mid range to go along with his usual aggressiveness. 6 rebounds too.
 

this team is for real? hope so, but we'll see. we've all seen tubby's teams do this before. ring me in mid-january.

posted by a gopher football AND basketball fan. ;)
 


supadupafly said:
this team is for real? hope so, but we'll see. we've all seen tubby's teams do this before. ring me in mid-january.

posted by a gopher football AND basketball fan. ;)
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I suppose a couple losses to some upper-tier B1G teams could start the "here we go again" mantra from the naysayers. Why do so many people think that an 11-1 OoC season automatically should equate anything near that in the B1G? Gone are the days that the B1G struggled. Frankly, as stacked as the B1G is this year, the Gophers could be a very good team on the national scene and yet not finish much above .500 in the B1G.
 


This team has depth in part because Tubby gave his roster enough time to develop, minute by minute, over the last at times frustrating two years. Do you think Tubby maybe was looking down the chess board those two years with player development in mind? We are now reaping the benefits as fans.

Also had to be impressed tonight with the defense creating fast breaks and the much maligned half court offense, with screens, p & rs and even back door cuts, all performed in a hostile, reigning ACC champion environment.

This Gopher team is very solid and the question will be can they defend Williams Arena this year in the B1G and steal 2or 3 on the road? No team in the conference with the exception perhaps of Frazierless Penn State is a gimme.
 

I thought they looked quite good this evening. Hopefully we can sustain the good defense and the balanced offensive attack. It was great to see!
 



Others have already pointed this out, but I find it interesting how some conveniently ignore the reasons Tubby's teams here have played better early on. Did people actually forget about Devoe transferring and Nolen breaking his foot? I wonder if that had anything to do with them finishing poorly? What about Mbakwe tearing his ACL? That didn't effect the team, did it?

I think this game was very encouraging. Mbakwe will have better games, but being able to dominate with him playing poorly really says something. Keep it up guys.
 

Just got back home from the game. Solid effort by the Gophers in a hostile environment. They scored first and never looked back. Florida State looks to be at best a middle of the pack ACC team so we shouldn't get overly excited. They have one returning starter and have two true freshmen starting.

That being said the Gophers appear to have their best team in over ten years IMO. There was solid play from all the starters and workmanship production from Treavor, and Welch off the Bench. I thought Elliason was a beast on defense and on the boards in the first half. Dre, Austin, and Joe all played well and got the ball to open people for easy shots, at least for the first 30 minutes. At the thirty minute mark FSU cranked up the defense a few notches and started cutting into a 21 point lead. Rodney and Trevor then stepped up and hit a combined 10 consecutive free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Trevor missed his last two, but the game was already decided.

I was happy to see Welch have a solid game in relief of Dre when he picked up his second foul late in the first half. Rodney, although he didn't have a high scoring game, contributed well on the boards, on defense, and at the free throw line. Trevor seemed a little lost out there but made his free throws when needed. I love the trio of Dre, Austin, and Coleman. Coleman does seem to live on the edge with his ball handling like many of you have said, but didn't get in too much trouble tonight. An interesting stat at halftime was FSU with 8 turnovers and the Gophers with 7. Although FSU ended up out-rebounding the Gophers for the game the Gophers dominated the boards for the first thirty minutes. Elliason had 10 boards.
 

Ok, here's the plan, team.

Let's use plenty of sidewalk salt around The Barn. Walk gingerly.

Don't let anyone go to the Mall of America.

Check with the academic advisors and make sure everyone's on track.

Don't let anyone go out at night.

No driving.

No drinking.

Forgetting anything?
 

TLHGO4 said:
Just got back home from the game. Solid effort by the Gophers in a hostile environment. They scored first and never looked back. Florida State looks to be at best a middle of the pack ACC team so we shouldn't get overly excited. They have one returning starter and have two true freshmen starting.

That being said the Gophers appear to have their best team in over ten years IMO. There was solid play from all the starters and workmanship production from Treavor, and Welch off the Bench. I thought Elliason was a beast on defense and on the boards in the first half. Dre, Austin, and Joe all played well and got the ball to open people for easy shots, at least for the first 30 minutes. At the thirty minute mark FSU cranked up the defense a few notches and started cutting into a 21 point lead. Rodney and Trevor then stepped up and hit a combined 10 consecutive free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Trevor missed his last two, but the game was already decided.

I was happy to see Welch have a solid game in relief of Dre when he picked up his second foul late in the first half. Rodney, although he didn't have a high scoring game, contributed well on the boards, on defense, and at the free throw line. Trevor seemed a little lost out there but made his free throws when needed. I love the trio of Dre, Austin, and Coleman. Coleman does seem to live on the edge with his ball handling like many of you have said, but didn't get in too much trouble tonight. An interesting stat at halftime was FSU with 8 turnovers and the Gophers with 7. Although FSU ended up out-rebounding the Gophers for the game the Gophers dominated the boards for the first thirty minutes. Elliason had 10 boards.
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We outrebounded them by 3 according to ESPN.
 



GophersOnTheRise said:
We outrebounded them by 3 according to ESPN.
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I got my information from FSU radio broadcast on my way home from the game so that might be wrong. Don't remember the exact numbers they stated. At any rate The Gophers had a solid advantage the first thirty minutes but lost much of that during the final ten minutes.
 

TLHGO4 said:
Just got back home from the game. Solid effort by the Gophers in a hostile environment. They scored first and never looked back. Florida State looks to be at best a middle of the pack ACC team so we shouldn't get overly excited. They have one returning starter and have two true freshmen starting.

That being said the Gophers appear to have their best team in over ten years IMO. There was solid play from all the starters and workmanship production from Treavor, and Welch off the Bench. I thought Elliason was a beast on defense and on the boards in the first half. Dre, Austin, and Joe all played well and got the ball to open people for easy shots, at least for the first 30 minutes. At the thirty minute mark FSU cranked up the defense a few notches and started cutting into a 21 point lead. Rodney and Trevor then stepped up and hit a combined 10 consecutive free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Trevor missed his last two, but the game was already decided.

I was happy to see Welch have a solid game in relief of Dre when he picked up his second foul late in the first half. Rodney, although he didn't have a high scoring game, contributed well on the boards, on defense, and at the free throw line. Trevor seemed a little lost out there but made his free throws when needed. I love the trio of Dre, Austin, and Coleman. Coleman does seem to live on the edge with his ball handling like many of you have said, but didn't get in too much trouble tonight. An interesting stat at halftime was FSU with 8 turnovers and the Gophers with 7. Although FSU ended up out-rebounding the Gophers for the game the Gophers dominated the boards for the first thirty minutes. Elliason had 10 boards.
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i wouldnt be surprised if fsu is one of the top 3-4 teams in the acc this year. that conference looks pretty average with the exception of nc state and duke
 

Cool to see our best players tonight be Coleman and EE. Solid game for Welch. I'll I ask though is to get Dre to demand the ball more so we don't have to rely on Austin or Williams bringing the ball up the court.
 

lakesgopher said:
i wouldnt be surprised if fsu is one of the top 3-4 teams in the acc this year. that conference looks pretty average with the exception of nc state and duke
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Have you been watching Indiana destroy North Carolina on ESPN? It might be Duke and the little eleven this year. I don't know much about the the remainder of the ACC this year, but Florida State at this point in time is a shadow of the team they had last year.
 

I like to laud Welch on his play tonight - his 3 before the half was something we usually see the other team do to us!
 

book said:
I like to laud Welch on his play tonight - his 3 before the half was something we usually see the other team do to us!
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Agreed. That type of big time shot is one he missed in the past. It is cold blooded and sends FSU in to the halftime locker room deflated.
 

Tubtastic said:
Agreed. That type of big time shot is one he missed in the past. It is cold blooded and sends FSU in to the halftime locker room deflated.
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Much like us against Duke. 7 point deficit looks a lot worse than 4 points in the locker room. Much like FSU tonight to a greater extent.
 



GophersOnTheRise said:
Others have already pointed this out, but I find it interesting how some conveniently ignore the reasons Tubby's teams here have played better early on. Did people actually forget about Devoe transferring and Nolen breaking his foot? I wonder if that had anything to do with them finishing poorly? What about Mbakwe tearing his ACL? That didn't effect the team, did it?

I think this game was very encouraging. Mbakwe will have better games, but being able to dominate with him playing poorly really says something. Keep it up guys.
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Combined with Nolen and Devoe was the fact that Justin Cobbs transferred in April 2010, so we picked up Mav about a month later. All of Nolen, Joseph, and Cobbs were getting minutes in the 2009-10 season (though Nolen's became academically ineligible for most of the conference schedule), and we had none of them by the end of January 2010.

BarnBoy said:
Ok, here's the plan, team.

Let's use plenty of sidewalk salt around The Barn. Walk gingerly.

Don't let anyone go to the Mall of America.

Check with the academic advisors and make sure everyone's on track.

Don't let anyone go out at night.

No driving.

No drinking.

Forgetting anything?
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No transferring in the middle of January.

No doing whatever it was (weed?) that got Devoe suspended twice in 2010-11 prior to his transfer.
 

BarnBoy said:
Ok, here's the plan, team.

Let's use plenty of sidewalk salt around The Barn. Walk gingerly.

Don't let anyone go to the Mall of America.

Check with the academic advisors and make sure everyone's on track.

Don't let anyone go out at night.

No driving.

No drinking.

Forgetting anything?
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I am not scared about any personnel problems this year. One of this team's strengths is its depth, so absent a carload of 5 Gophers driving off of a cliff, I have trouble imagining a scenario we couldn't weather. We can get production from the point, the wings, and the posts, and multiple players at most positions. I think a loss of a key player this year should result in a shift in strategy, not an apocalypse.
 


When Oto made that jump shot, you knew it was our night.

Tubby said it well on the radio postgame: living out of suitcases for the last week plus has been a test of these guys' focus and mental stamina. Check the box on passing the test. He gives them a break on the letdown toward the end of the game, chalking it up to hitting the wall a little.

I saw a lot to like in Andre's performance tonight. Game by game he's becoming a better ball handler and distributor. He made some A+ passes tonight. When he had to leave with 2 fouls in the first half, the dropoff in ball handling was suddenly big, especially with Mav's off night.
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
I am not scared about any personnel problems this year. One of this team's strengths is its depth, so absent a carload of 5 Gophers driving off of a cliff, I have trouble imagining a scenario we couldn't weather. We can get production from the point, the wings, and the posts, and multiple players at most positions. I think a loss of a key player this year should result in a shift in strategy, not an apocalypse.
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Loose one of Rodney, Austin or Andre and we are hurting big time.... Just like any other non top 10 team.
 

Thread title is right on the money IMHO

I was really impressed by the Gophers tonight. I was trying to think back to the last time I felt this good about the team and it might go all the way back to San Juan.

When I watch the games, especially the non-conference games, I usually have the question in my head "what is repeatable"? This was a convincing win over a solid to good FSU team on the road that was full of repeatable performances. The defense was very good, the team looked very good when trying to score in transition, and the half court offense looked better than it has in a long time. One thing that really stood out to me was how the team seemed to expect to perform well as there was not the " I can't believe we're doing this" type of reactions to made shots that we've seen in the past when the Gophers have had a nice win on the road/neutral court.

I think a lot of coaches would love to show their team the game Elliott Eliason played. The kid seemingly cannot score the basketball, but blocked several shots, had double digit rebounds, made good decisions with the ball, and had 3-4 hustle plays that really stood out. Whether your shots not falling or you simply can't make shots, that was a great example of how you can still make a positive impact on a game.

I might have mentioned it after the Memphis game, but Rodney Williams ability to handle the ball is vastly improved this season. His ballhandling might be the most improved aspect of any players game on the entire team. It's nice to see him be able to help break the press and even better to see him take guys off the dribble and get to the rim.
 

There is no doubt in my mind that Rodney made a very good impression on the several NBA scouts there. The power slams, 3-pointer, taking care of the ball were all excellent displays by Rodney.

There is also no doubt that Trevor had a "hit the wall" game after B4A, 4th game in 6 nights, still healing, not yet in top condition, etc. But he will get there.
 

Seth Davis seems ready to jump on the bandwagon. This is just one of a handful of positive tweets about the Gophers in the last 12 hours or so.

Seth Davis ‏@SethDavisHoops
Really impressed with Minnesota. That's a tough turnaround from the Bahamas, but they pounded a good Fla St team on the road. Proper.
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